Washed Away

Welcome guys to a brand new blog, and today, we will be addressing the players who have been taken away by age or injury, but can still put up consistent numbers to help the team out. These guys are putting up solid numbers despite their age and or injury. Without further ado, lets get started.

Derrick Rose

With the 1st pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls select, Derrick Rose out of Memphis. Derrick Rose was taken with high hopes as a hometown kid from Chicago, and being the 1st pick in the draft over guys like Russell Westbrook, who was taken 4th overall. In Rose's rookie season he was great, averaging about 17 points and 6 assists, while bringing home the Rookie Of The Year as the Bulls finished the season with a 41-41 record which was good enough to make the playoffs only to lose in the first round. Rose was fired up, as he took the Bulls to the playoffs again with a 41-41 record, but of no use as the Bulls lose again in the first round. Rose that season averaged 21 points and 6 assists for the Bulls and in the playoffs he bumped his averages to 27 points and 7 assists per game in the 5 games played in the playoffs.

The next season Rose went off, as in the 2011 season, Rose averaged 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists and was given the league's MVP while leading the Bulls to the 1st seed. Rose was also declared the youngest MVP in NBA history in that infamous 2011 season. In the playoffs, Rose was still playing great and even led the Bulls to the Conference Finals where they would eventually lose to Lebron James and the Miami Heat. His playoff stats were 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists as the Bulls lost in 5 games to the Heat like I said and that was the end of Rose's MVP season. The next season he was dealing with a bunch of minor injuries in the shortened season so he only played 39 out of the 66 games in that season. In that lockout season he averaged 22 points, 3 rebounds, and 8 assists while leading the Bulls to the 1st seed again.

"Oh Rose came down hard on his left foot, holding onto his knee, holding onto his knee and down." This was the sound from the commentators when Derrick Rose tore his ACL in Game 1 of Round 1 of the 2012 Playoffs. This was a hard blow for the Bulls who were trying to make a run to the Finals that year in hopes of bringing home their first title to Chicago since Michael Jordan in the 90's. The injury kept Rose out for the rest of the 2012 Playoffs and all of the 2013 season which was devastating for the Bulls. The next season he only plays 10 games due to injuries and in those 10 games he averaged 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting a horrendous 35 percent from 3. The 2015 season he played 51 games and averaged 18 points on 40 percent from the field. This was the year he challenged Lebron and the new look Cavs to 6 games and the legendary buzzer beater from Rose.

The next season he had some eye problems but still managed to average 16 points on better efficiency at about 43 percent and Rose played 66 games but the Bulls just barely missed the playoffs in the East. After that season Rose was traded to the Knicks for Robin Lopez and some other players. That season he averaged 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists but sat out for the final part of the season with a Torn Achilles so he only played 64 games. After that season no team wanted to sign Rose for the max contract that he wanted, so he settled to sign with the Cavs for a 1 year minimum to help him win a ring. This season before he got hurt, he was averaging 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists playing alongside Lebron James. He can be a facilitator off the bench now that Isaiah Thomas is back from his injury and he needs to learn to shoot so spacing doesn't become an issue for the backup guard positions, as Wade is playing off the bench as well.

Dwyane Wade

With the 5th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, the Miami Heat select, Dwyane Wade out of Marquette. Wade had a rough childhood and a rough time at Marquette because of grades, but Wade wanted to help his parents to get out of the rough life to live a more luxurious life and a better one. He certainly did as Wade became an instant impact for the Miami Heat as he averaged 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists as a rookie, but Lebron took home the Rookie of the Year award. The next few seasons he went off, scoring over 24 points per game for the next 7 years and he even won a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006 with Shaq in the infamous 2006 NBA Finals against the Mavericks. Some say there were a lot of missed calls against the Heat and some bad officiating on the Heat side in terms of too many calls. Whatever it may be, Wade went off and grabbed the Finals MVP.

The next season Shaq was traded away to the Suns so now Wade has a whole team to himself. The next few seasons Wade didn't play too many games due to injuries so he only played in 51 games in both the 2007 season and the 2008 season. In the 2009 season, he played 79 games and averaged 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists and still lost the MVP to Lebron James and he even came in 3rd place, which should not have happened. I believe that Wade should have gotten that MVP trophy. Lets move on to his 2010 campaign, where his numbers dropped a bit, as he averaged 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists while playing 77 games that season. That offseason the infamous big 3 came to Miami when Lebron and Bosh joined Wade in Miami. There he dipped a little more but he still managed to average 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in 76 games to help the team benefit.

The next season is where he started to really drop, because he started to get a lot of injuries and that season he only averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists while playing 49 games that season in the lockout year. Wade still managed to get a ring in 5 games against the young Thunder team with Westbrook, Durant, and Harden. The next season he got his games up but not too much as he played 69 games and suffered a lot of minor injuries which has hurt his career in the long run. He did win a championship against the Spurs in 2013. The next season he averaged 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, in 54 games, suffering from knee problems and ultimately losing to the Spurs in 5 games.

Wade and the Miami Heat were looking to get back to the top, but the hopes of that happening were crushed when Lebron decided to go back to Cleveland in hopes of bringing his hometown team a championship. Now Wade was left all alone with his knee problems to deal with as well when Chris Bosh was out for the season with Blood Clots. The Heat would miss the playoffs that season and Wade would average 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Going into the next season, Bosh retired due to his Blood Clots, and Wade led the Miami Heat to the playoffs as the 3rd seed where they would lose in 7 games to the Raptors in the Conference Semis. Wade went off in those playoffs and looked like the prime Dwyane Wade in the way he carried them to the second round.

That offseason Wade was a free agent, will he stay loyal to the team that has treated him like a king, will he go to his hometown team, or will he start chasing rings. The answer to that is he went to his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls as he signed a 2 year deal with the Bulls. The Bulls were looking to contend in the East, problem was they had 0 spacing, as they were running a lineup of Rondo, Wade, and Butler as their 1, 2, and 3. They finished the season as the 8th seed, but they took the Celtics to 7 games. The Bulls reached a buyout with Wade and Wade signed a 1 year deal with the Cavs worth the minimum. Wade is averaging 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench for the Cavs.

Carmelo Anthony

With the 3rd pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets select, Carmelo Anthony from Syracuse. Coming off of an NCAA championship, Anthony was considered a winner coming into the NBA, and he showed that, as he willed the Nuggets to the playoffs where they would eventually lose in 5 games in the 1st round. Carmelo could have easily won Rookie of the Year as Melo averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists and Lebron averaged similar stats on less efficiency from deep. The next season he had nearly identical stats, as all of the number only dropped by about 0.2 so stats were the same including a minor injury so it is understandable why they dropped a little. Next season he came back strong, as Melo dropped 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, and led the team to the playoffs where they would eventually lose in 5 games to the Clippers.

The 2007 season he scored an absurd 29 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists as Denver wins 45 games and lose in the playoffs again. The 2008 season was when Allen Iverson decided to join Carmelo Anthony in Denver, after being traded from the 76ers, and at that point, it was championship or bust. Carmelo didn't disappoint, as he still had his usual 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, but the overall way this team plays, they were not gonna win many games, as they were swept in the 1st round by the Lakers. His next few seasons his numbers dipped from before due to injuries but was still able to produce at a high level. Once he was traded to the Knicks where he balled out for the next 3 seasons being at around 25-26 points per game.

Starting from the 2015 season, everything started going downhill for Carmelo, as father time began to hit Melo, as at age 30, injuries started to kick in, as Anthony only played in 40 games in the 2015 season. In those 40 games he averaged 24 points, which is not bad but the injuries held him back that season, and ever since that season he has been declining a bit. The next season he averaged 22 points on a career high in assists at 4.2 because of Porzingis on the team so he has to pass the ball for the first time in his career which could help him in the long run. His past couple of seasons have been good for him except 2015 he has been a great scorer and isolation player which has benefitted him his whole career, but he needs to get more of a passing mentality to succeed later in his career. He needs to pass more so he can fit in with more teams to have a longer career.

The following season he averages around 22 points per game but it is easy to tell that his athleticism has gone down significantly and efficiency has been a little up from 3 but not from the field. During the season there were rumors about a Carmelo trade but it never happened. During the offseason though, the trade finally happened as Melo was traded to the Thunder for Kanter. Carmelo has since been called the cancer for the Thunder yet it is not his fault for the team's poor start, it is the whole team, but since Carmelo is Carmelo, they blame it on Carmelo cause of his lack of team success. The one hole of Anthony's game is passing and the Thunder struggle at constantly moving the ball, so Carmelo needs to play with more of a team first mentality.

Lamarcus Aldridge

With the 2nd pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls select, Lamarcus Aldridge from Texas at Austin. Lamarcus was just another player to be drafted and almost immediately be traded, as Lamarcus was traded to the Trail Blazers on draft night. The 2nd pick was traded on draft night, and that 2nd pick averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds while playing a majority of games off the bench for the Blazers. The next season, they had the 1st pick in the draft, where they infamously took Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, which was probably the franchise's 2nd biggest mistake in their life time. Brandon Roy was also ruined with injuries so that Blazers team relied on Aldridge to carry for the next few seasons, and he did, getting 18 points and grabbing 8 rebounds for the next 3 seasons.

Now in the 2011 season, he started to improve into an all star, as in that season, he averaged 22 points, and 9 rebounds and he wasn't an all star, and why wouldn't he when he is averaging those type of numbers, he got plain snubbed. The Trail Blazers managed to make the playoffs but lost to the eventual champions Dallas Mavericks in 6 games. The next season Lamarcus had very similar stats in the lockout shortened season with 22 points and 8 rebounds while being an all star that season, but they missed the playoffs that season. That happened the very next season as well, Aldridge was an all star and averaged 21 and 9, but missed the playoffs.

The Trail Blazers were fired up, as they managed to get the 5th seed in the West while Aldridge had a career year at 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists to lead the Blazers into the playoffs. The first round was crazy, as that series was the one when Lillard hit that iconic buzzer beater over Houston to win the series, and that was the first time the Blazers made it out of the first round in 14 years. The next season Aldridge had similar stats, but this time they would lose in the first round as the 4th seed.

The 2015 offseason showed 4 of the 5 Blazers starters leave in free agency, including Lamarcus, who decided to leave the Blazers to go to the Spurs in hopes of winning a championship. With the Spurs he averaged 18 points and 9 rebounds in his first year in San Antonio alongside Kawhi. Even though his numbers dropped significantly dropped, he was getting lessons from one of, if not the best Power Forward of all time, Tim Duncan as Duncan was in his final season when Aldridge got to San Antonio. The playoffs were where things were intense, as the 2nd seed Spurs matchup against the Thunder in the 2nd round, when they still had Durant and the duo were still friends, as their chemistry proved to be too much for the Spurs as the Thunder won in 6 games. The Spurs were on a mission in the 2017 season, and they got to the 2nd seed again but this time they made it to the Conference Finals where they met the Warriors, and due to Kawhi's injury, the Spurs got swept.

Lamarcus has had a tough time getting deep into the playoffs his whole career and especially during his prime when he played his best basketball of his career in Portland. Now that he is surrounded by great talent and a great organization, he should be able to make a couple of deep runs into the playoffs. With Kawhi out, Aldridge has been fantastic, averaging 23 points, 9 rebounds, on 49 percent from the field and 34 percent from 3. This could easily be his best season of his career if he can keep this up and he can keep winning consistently, as the Spurs are the 3rd seed in the West right at this moment. If the Spurs can keep this up without Kawhi, imagine what they would be like with Kawhi at full strength, and Lamarcus playing like prime Lamarcus Aldridge, this team can do damage against the Warriors or any team for that matter.

Dwight Howard

With the 1st pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic select, Dwight Howard out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. Being the Number 1 pick of a draft, there is a lot of pressure going into your rookie season, but Dwight managed to keep the pressure to the side and average 12 points and 10 rebounds as a rookie, while finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting, only behind Emeka Okafor. In his second season, he comes up and averages 16 points and 13 rebounds as a sophomore, which is amazing for a second year player. Fast forward to the 2006-07 season, Howard is now becoming a monster averaging 18 points, and 12 rebounds while making his first all star apperance and making the playoffs for the first time in his career. Orlando loses to the Detroit Pistons in a sweep, but things were looking up for the young and upcoming Magic.

Now that the Magic have gotten a taste of the playoffs with Howard, it was time to take some big leaps, and Howard was one of the people needing to take a big step up in order for the Magic to take that next step. Well, Howard did, and in a big way, as he averaged 21 points and 14 rebounds a game, leading the league in rebounds a game, and leading his team to the playoffs again. The Magic won 52 games that season, and made it to the second round, only to lose to the Detroit Pistons in 5 games. Howard and the Magic were fired up the next season, as Howard led the Magic to the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference, and willing the Magic to the Finals, but they would lose to the Lakers in 5 games, but the future looked bright in Orlando. The next 3 seasons they weren't really going anywhere with Dwight and the Magic. Dwight in that span averaged about 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Magic.

The 2012 offseason was a crazy one, as Dwight becomes unhappy with Orlando and wants a trade out of Orlando, so Howard gets dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers in hopes that the new superteam in LA can work out. Well turns out it didn't, as injuries ruined any type of hope that the Lakers had of making a deep run into the playoffs. Kobe summed up that season in the 5th to last game of the season where Kobe falls down numerous times and towards the end of that game, Kobe fell again and tore his Achilles. That sat him out for the whole season, while Dwight was suffering from back pain the whole season and was not at full strength at any point of the season. After that season, he was a free agent in 2013 and he chose the Rockets after they had gotten Harden the previous offseason. During his 3 seasons in Houston he averaged around 16 points, and 12 rebounds for his time there in Houston and him having issues with Harden the entire season.

Howard was a free agent AGAIN in 2016 and this time he decided to go home and go to his hometown team, the Atlanta Hawks for a 3 year deal. With the Hawks he averaged 14 points and 13 rebounds, and the Hawks did not exactly have the best chemistry to say the least that season as you will find out later. The Hawks made their way to the playoffs as the 5th seed but would be dismantled in the playoffs by the Washington Wizards in 6 games. In the offseason, Hawks players rejoiced as Howard was traded to the Hornets for absolutely nothing in return, because the Hawks players did not like Howard at all in the locker room. Now Howard is rejuvenating his career in Charlotte, as now he feels comfortable with his teammates and the coaching system, as he is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds.